okay, i'm still saving up to either buy a crate engine or rebuild my current one, but while i wait, i would like to have at least some satisfactory performance from my truck. i'm not talking high speed take offs, and such, but more along the lines of smoother accelaration. right now, the truck usually struggles to make it to the first 2200 rpms in first gear. what can cause this? (the truck has recently been tuned up)

i can't tell what's wrong, but i get a feeling that something is clogged. i'm leaning towards either the cat being clogged, or the fuel injectors. how can i find out, other than paying a lot of money? obviously if i need a new cat or something, i wouldn't have a problem paying to replace it. i just don't want to pay a mechanic to tell me that my cat is fine,and then have to pay again to have him check out my EFI (or whatever). how should i go about diagnosing this problem? or are all 87 f150 302's just slow and ruff to accelarate like mine?

thanks

 

Well Jon,did you change the fuel filter at the tune up & exactly how much did you tune up? For a test of the cat you can loosen the pipes at the manifold and drive it a ways to verify.If the motor is "struggling" with no hesitations or misses,it could be the cat{s}.Sometimes at night you can see the pipe at the cat glowing cheery red indicating a restriction.See what you can find out.
Phillip

 

i can't believe i forgot the fuel filter!

okay, i've never changed (or even seen) a fuel filter. hey, gimme a break, i just recently bought the truck

where is it located, what tools do i need, and is there anything else i should know before starting this next little project?

 

After letting the truck rest for at least thirty minutes,you will need a flat screwdriver and a pair of needle nose pliers{I am not kidding,oh yeah,a creeper is nice too}.The filter is under your door in the frame rail.Start by loosening the hose clamp around the filter{screwdriver},remove the white plastic locks on each side of the filter by pulling and gently prying straight back{pliers}.You can then slide the lines off each end and slide the filter out of the hose clamp.Reverse to install,just make sure the new lock clips are properly seated.
Phillip